Patent Documents Reveal Wii U Controller Details

[Greg Tito]

Patent Documents Reveal Wii U Controller Details

Nintendo's patent documents for the Wii U bring a few details to light about its big ass controller.

The most important hardware announcement from the Big Three game companies was Nintendo bringing out the big guns on a brand new console. Er, well, technically only half of the Wii U is new - the controller. The tablet-sized touchscreen controller is almost as big as the Wii itself, but it is meant to allow the player to get a personal display of whatever game he is playing and interact through a gyroscope and other motion controls. Patent documents uncovered by a diligent NeoGaf forum user [http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=440608] has revealed that the new controller will also contain a magnetometer, an IR port, a speaker like the Wii Remote, a microphone and built-in flash memory.

[gallery=413]

Of interest is the representation of the the Wii U console as looking no different in size or shape than the Wii itself. The magnetometer might have some compelling applications, especially if the stylus contains a magnet. Players may not have to actually touch the touchscreen if that is the case.

The IR port also has possibilities as depicted in the image of a player using the Wii Remote to interact with the Wii U touchscreen on the floor. Of course, golf is the only game that comes to mind where this might work. Can anyone think of another game application for this technology? Field hockey? Beating hookers in GTA5?

The controller will also have rechargeable lithium ion batteries instead of the AAs needed now. I personally hate having to replace the AAs in my controllers - buying rechargeable batteries hasn't corrected the problem because I still have to pull off the rubber skin from the Wii Remote. Just being to place the thing in a charger, set it and forget it, will do wonders for making me an early Wii U adopter.

(I realize that buying aftermarket chargers from Nyko for my current Wii controllers is a possibility but A: I'm lazy and B: It's nice to have that function baked in.)

Source: Free Patents Online [http://www.freepatentsonline.com/20110190052.pdf]

Permalink

 

[mjc0961]

(I realize that buying aftermarket chargers from Nyko for my current Wii controllers is a possibility but A: I'm lazy and B: It's nice to have that function baked in.)

And most importantly, C: In addition to not holding a charge well at all, they also tend to cause your Wii Remotes to melt or catch fire [http://www.amazon.com/Wii-Charge-Station-Nintendo/product-reviews/B000LFJNF2/ref=cm_cr_dp_hist_1?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&filterBy=addOneStar].

I still can't figure out why the hell Nintendo didn't at least offer an official rechargable battery solution for the Wii Remote, or at least take the opportunity to build in a rechargable battery for the Wii Remote Plus. Nice to see they're learning at least.

 

[BehattedWanderer]

There are people who actually use that Wiimote Condom...thing?? I am baffled. It makes dealing with the rechargeable battery packs easier. Maybe that's just me, preferring the hard plastic over the latex grime.

 

[robert01]

This system is going to fail and fail really fucking hard. I can understand that Nintendo wants to use a little less powerful hardware to keep the price down and get their system into as many homes as possible, but they limit themselves with who will develop games on their system, they lose out on a lot of big titles because of this it seems. Than they make that god awful controller. Explain to me the benefits of that thing? It a monster, probably has some weight to it, compared to the other controllers. Big deal that it has a screen. BLAH111!!1

 

[thiosk]

As has been mentioned in previous threads, if the WiiU miniscreen can be used as the motion sensor in a game of Colonial Marines (or whatever the title of the Aliens game is), that constitutes a killer app and it doesn't matter what else it can be used for.

 

[Dendio]

Dont knock it till you try it...
Nintendo has some strong intangibles going for it

 

[jedizero]

While I'm not going to condemn the system without trying it and seeing what is capable with it, I'm....not very enthusiastic about this.

I look at it, and all I can see are those 'leapfrog games for kids' in my head. It also appears to pretty much just be the wii, only they shoved a small screen on it for shits and giggles. What more can you do with a tiny screen? Oh sure, you can use it for small things like inventories, maps, and the like, but ultimately its just...there, wasting space and power. It also looks like the only games that might be able to run on it are games that could be done in flash.

 

[Danpascooch]

This system is going to fail and fail really fucking hard. I can understand that Nintendo wants to use a little less powerful hardware to keep the price down and get their system into as many homes as possible, but they limit themselves with who will develop games on their system, they lose out on a lot of big titles because of this it seems. Than they make that god awful controller. Explain to me the benefits of that thing? It a monster, probably has some weight to it, compared to the other controllers. Big deal that it has a screen. BLAH111!!1

Seriously, I'm not saying it's easy to port between the 360 and the PS3, but developers of games for 360 and PS3 are going to look at this system and laugh until they cry, it requires a game built from the ground up for WiiU, and when for the same effort (give or take 20%) they can make a game that works for the 360, PS3 and PC, well, what the fuck does Nintendo expect them to choose!?

Prepare for massive fails.

 

[Danpascooch]

While I'm not going to condemn the system without trying it and seeing what is capable with it, I'm....not very enthusiastic about this.

I look at it, and all I can see are those 'leapfrog games for kids' in my head. It also appears to pretty much just be the wii, only they shoved a small screen on it for shits and giggles. What more can you do with a tiny screen? Oh sure, you can use it for small things like inventories, maps, and the like, but ultimately its just...there, wasting space and power. It also looks like the only games that might be able to run on it are games that could be done in flash.

Not to mention the battery life on it must be ABYSMAL. Think about it, it has to keep that screen lit the whole time in addition to performing its normal controller functions, I give it 8 hours per charge.

 

[Epona]

This thread has been up for 9 hours and mine is the 9th reply? I think it's pretty clear that very few people care about the Wii-U. I feel the same way, after the Wii and the 3DS the only thing I am excited for is to watch Nintendo fail.

 

[Jabberwock King]

This thread has been up for 9 hours and mine is the 9th reply? I think it's pretty clear that very few people care about the Wii-U. I feel the same way, after the Wii and the 3DS the only thing I am excited for is to watch Nintendo fail.

You, me, and a whole lot of other people brother. Nintendo is like the Ottoman Empire of video games. They were strong and glorious, but now they are slowly decaying from incompetence, limping into one generation after another. When the gaming equivalent of WWI happens, Nintendo will die.

 

[Lizardon]

Players may not have to actually touch the touchscreen if that is the case.

Am I the only one confused by this?

 

[-Dragmire-]

Players may not have to actually touch the touchscreen if that is the case.

Am I the only one confused by this?

Basically, if it has a magnet, that means there's a sensor in the controller to know when the stylus tip is close to the device. The benefits of this is that you don't have to apply much pressure at all when clicking/tapping the screen because it's set up to know the distance(within an inch or two above the screen) between stylus and screen. Don't have to worry about scratch marks then, unlike the DS which is a physical sensor only. It's the same tech as what's in drawing tablets for artists.

 

[Epona]

Players may not have to actually touch the touchscreen if that is the case.

Am I the only one confused by this?

Basically, if it has a magnet, that means there's a sensor in the controller to know when the stylus tip is close to the device. The benefits of this is that you don't have to apply much pressure at all when clicking/tapping the screen because it's set up to know the distance(within an inch or two above the screen) between stylus and screen. Don't have to worry about scratch marks then, unlike the DS which is a physical sensor only. It's the same tech as what's in drawing tablets for artists.

I can see that misreading inputs. Having the stylus close to the screen could make it think you are trying to input a command when you really wanted to input the command a few pixels to the left or right. Prior to the Wii and the 3DS I would have said "Nintendo will make it work well" but now I can't say that.

With the Wii they half-assed the motion controls and with the 3DS they half-assed the 3D.

 

[-Dragmire-]

Players may not have to actually touch the touchscreen if that is the case.

Am I the only one confused by this?

Basically, if it has a magnet, that means there's a sensor in the controller to know when the stylus tip is close to the device. The benefits of this is that you don't have to apply much pressure at all when clicking/tapping the screen because it's set up to know the distance(within an inch or two above the screen) between stylus and screen. Don't have to worry about scratch marks then, unlike the DS which is a physical sensor only. It's the same tech as what's in drawing tablets for artists.

I can see that misreading inputs. Having the stylus close to the screen could make it think you are trying to input a command when you really wanted to input the command a few pixels to the left or right. Prior to the Wii and the 3DS I would have said "Nintendo will make it work well" but now I can't say that.

With the Wii they half-assed the motion controls and with the 3DS they half-assed the 3D.

I probably should have explained that better, the technology's been around for a while and it's near perfect. I'll be explaining this as a drawing tablet, as that's what I'm experienced with.

Spoiler: drawing tablet

When you have a tablet connected to a computer, you can use the pen(stylus) instead of your mouse. When you move the pen around the tablet's surface without touching it, the movement of the mouse pointer will move in the same way across the screen, there are pressure sensors in the pen tip(and the signal is sent to the tablet wirelessly) for registering whether or not the pen actually touches the tablet.

Basically, the magnetic portion is really for knowing where your pointing at and the pressure sensor in the pen is used to know if your tapping or dragging it across the surface.

I'm not sure if this is exactly what Nintendo is going for but it is a technology that has proven itself to be extremely reliable.

Back about ten years ago the main problem with drawing with the tablet was that there was a bit of lag between doing the motion of drawing a line and it appearing on screen(rather annoying issue) but now it's pretty immediate, not instantaneous just yet but I don't mind a couple of milliseconds delay.

 

[Epona]

Players may not have to actually touch the touchscreen if that is the case.

Am I the only one confused by this?

Basically, if it has a magnet, that means there's a sensor in the controller to know when the stylus tip is close to the device. The benefits of this is that you don't have to apply much pressure at all when clicking/tapping the screen because it's set up to know the distance(within an inch or two above the screen) between stylus and screen. Don't have to worry about scratch marks then, unlike the DS which is a physical sensor only. It's the same tech as what's in drawing tablets for artists.

I can see that misreading inputs. Having the stylus close to the screen could make it think you are trying to input a command when you really wanted to input the command a few pixels to the left or right. Prior to the Wii and the 3DS I would have said "Nintendo will make it work well" but now I can't say that.

With the Wii they half-assed the motion controls and with the 3DS they half-assed the 3D.

I probably should have explained that better, the technology's been around for a while and it's near perfect. I'll be explaining this as a drawing tablet, as that's what I'm experienced with.

Spoiler: drawing tablet

When you have a tablet connected to a computer, you can use the pen(stylus) instead of your mouse. When you move the pen around the tablet's surface without touching it, the movement of the mouse pointer will move in the same way across the screen, there are pressure sensors in the pen tip(and the signal is sent to the tablet wirelessly) for registering whether or not the pen actually touches the tablet.

Basically, the magnetic portion is really for knowing where your pointing at and the pressure sensor in the pen is used to know if your tapping or dragging it across the surface.

I'm not sure if this is exactly what Nintendo is going for but it is a technology that has proven itself to be extremely reliable.

Back about ten years ago the main problem with drawing with the tablet was that there was a bit of lag between doing the motion of drawing a line and it appearing on screen(rather annoying issue) but now it's pretty immediate, not instantaneous just yet but I don't mind a couple of milliseconds delay.

Thanks for the info. I have seen people use these but never really put much thought into it. The thing is, neither motion control nor 3D was new when Nintendo half-assed it either. Nintendo chose to be cheap with the Wiimote and the motion control turned into a waggle. It took them a few years to actually have 1:1 motion control and even longer to release it as part of the Wiimote (ie, making it standard). Most Wii games will use waggle because of Nintendo being cheap with the launch of the Wii. The 3D on the 3DS seems to be more trouble than it's worth because not only does it drain the battery like there's no tomorrow but it's designed in a way that forces you to hold your head a certain way. If that's the best they can do with 3D, they shouldn't have bothered. This marks the second attempt of Nintendo to fail with a 3D handheld. The technology may be there but that doesn't mean Nintendo won't go the cheap route again.

 

[-Dragmire-]

Players may not have to actually touch the touchscreen if that is the case.

Am I the only one confused by this?

Basically, if it has a magnet, that means there's a sensor in the controller to know when the stylus tip is close to the device. The benefits of this is that you don't have to apply much pressure at all when clicking/tapping the screen because it's set up to know the distance(within an inch or two above the screen) between stylus and screen. Don't have to worry about scratch marks then, unlike the DS which is a physical sensor only. It's the same tech as what's in drawing tablets for artists.

I can see that misreading inputs. Having the stylus close to the screen could make it think you are trying to input a command when you really wanted to input the command a few pixels to the left or right. Prior to the Wii and the 3DS I would have said "Nintendo will make it work well" but now I can't say that.

With the Wii they half-assed the motion controls and with the 3DS they half-assed the 3D.

I probably should have explained that better, the technology's been around for a while and it's near perfect. I'll be explaining this as a drawing tablet, as that's what I'm experienced with.

Spoiler: drawing tablet

When you have a tablet connected to a computer, you can use the pen(stylus) instead of your mouse. When you move the pen around the tablet's surface without touching it, the movement of the mouse pointer will move in the same way across the screen, there are pressure sensors in the pen tip(and the signal is sent to the tablet wirelessly) for registering whether or not the pen actually touches the tablet.

Basically, the magnetic portion is really for knowing where your pointing at and the pressure sensor in the pen is used to know if your tapping or dragging it across the surface.

I'm not sure if this is exactly what Nintendo is going for but it is a technology that has proven itself to be extremely reliable.

Back about ten years ago the main problem with drawing with the tablet was that there was a bit of lag between doing the motion of drawing a line and it appearing on screen(rather annoying issue) but now it's pretty immediate, not instantaneous just yet but I don't mind a couple of milliseconds delay.

Thanks for the info. I have seen people use these but never really put much thought into it. The thing is, neither motion control nor 3D was new when Nintendo half-assed it either. Nintendo chose to be cheap with the Wiimote and the motion control turned into a waggle. It took them a few years to actually have 1:1 motion control and even longer to release it as part of the Wiimote (ie, making it standard). Most Wii games will use waggle because of Nintendo being cheap with the launch of the Wii. The 3D on the 3DS seems to be more trouble than it's worth because not only does it drain the battery like there's no tomorrow but it's designed in a way that forces you to hold your head a certain way. If that's the best they can do with 3D, they shouldn't have bothered. This marks the second attempt of Nintendo to fail with a 3D handheld. The technology may be there but that doesn't mean Nintendo won't go the cheap route again.

Well, most people seem to forget, Nintendo had very little confidence in the Wii. They decided to drop the more hardcore audience it failed to impress with the gamecube and put out a console, half the price of it's competition, with an aesthetic that would appeal small kids and their parents who wanted a family friendly toy for their children.

I should probably point out this is history as I see it, even if it were true, Nintendo would never admit it.

Personally, I don't think they did it half assed at all, they made it for kids to swing around imitating sports players. When they sold faster than anyone could have predicted, they stumbled upon their meth fueled gold mine they made and were extremely pleased, they thought everyone loved what they made, except one point. People expected the toddler rattles they made to work like a mix between the gun from Duck Hunt and a laser pointer at a powerpoint presentation and, I'm convinced this is true, that was never what it was designed to do. So it took a ridiculous amount of time to develop a device that would add improved/altered capabilities and still fit with the flinging style of gameplay(no easy task). And when they finished it? No 3rd party developer would touch it because they didn't want their games to require the customer pay an extra $20, they couldn't take the risk even after Nintendo bundled it with Wii Sports Resort. By the time it was standard, no one cared anymore. Considering all the work it must have taken to develop the hardware addon, Nintendo must have been more than a little frustrated.

Their confidence in its' original pointing ability is best shown when looking at the WiiSports selection Menu, the sheer size the buttons had to be on screen to make it easy enough for anyone to select anything, the rest of the time is just remote flinging exercises because that's all it could do.

That... was a lot more than I was planning to say...

I don't think Nintendo went cheap, everyone just saw something that was way more than even Nintendo thought it was.

Anyway, hopefully they'll see the requirements/demands of the market this time around and plan accordingly.

 

[Epona]

Players may not have to actually touch the touchscreen if that is the case.

Am I the only one confused by this?

Basically, if it has a magnet, that means there's a sensor in the controller to know when the stylus tip is close to the device. The benefits of this is that you don't have to apply much pressure at all when clicking/tapping the screen because it's set up to know the distance(within an inch or two above the screen) between stylus and screen. Don't have to worry about scratch marks then, unlike the DS which is a physical sensor only. It's the same tech as what's in drawing tablets for artists.

I can see that misreading inputs. Having the stylus close to the screen could make it think you are trying to input a command when you really wanted to input the command a few pixels to the left or right. Prior to the Wii and the 3DS I would have said "Nintendo will make it work well" but now I can't say that.

With the Wii they half-assed the motion controls and with the 3DS they half-assed the 3D.

I probably should have explained that better, the technology's been around for a while and it's near perfect. I'll be explaining this as a drawing tablet, as that's what I'm experienced with.

Spoiler: drawing tablet

When you have a tablet connected to a computer, you can use the pen(stylus) instead of your mouse. When you move the pen around the tablet's surface without touching it, the movement of the mouse pointer will move in the same way across the screen, there are pressure sensors in the pen tip(and the signal is sent to the tablet wirelessly) for registering whether or not the pen actually touches the tablet.

Basically, the magnetic portion is really for knowing where your pointing at and the pressure sensor in the pen is used to know if your tapping or dragging it across the surface.

I'm not sure if this is exactly what Nintendo is going for but it is a technology that has proven itself to be extremely reliable.

Back about ten years ago the main problem with drawing with the tablet was that there was a bit of lag between doing the motion of drawing a line and it appearing on screen(rather annoying issue) but now it's pretty immediate, not instantaneous just yet but I don't mind a couple of milliseconds delay.

Thanks for the info. I have seen people use these but never really put much thought into it. The thing is, neither motion control nor 3D was new when Nintendo half-assed it either. Nintendo chose to be cheap with the Wiimote and the motion control turned into a waggle. It took them a few years to actually have 1:1 motion control and even longer to release it as part of the Wiimote (ie, making it standard). Most Wii games will use waggle because of Nintendo being cheap with the launch of the Wii. The 3D on the 3DS seems to be more trouble than it's worth because not only does it drain the battery like there's no tomorrow but it's designed in a way that forces you to hold your head a certain way. If that's the best they can do with 3D, they shouldn't have bothered. This marks the second attempt of Nintendo to fail with a 3D handheld. The technology may be there but that doesn't mean Nintendo won't go the cheap route again.

Well, most people seem to forget, Nintendo had very little confidence in the Wii. They decided to drop the more hardcore audience it failed to impress with the gamecube and put out a console, half the price of it's competition, with an aesthetic that would appeal small kids and their parents who wanted a family friendly toy for their children.

I should probably point out this is history as I see it, even if it were true, Nintendo would never admit it.

Personally, I don't think they did it half assed at all, they made it for kids to swing around imitating sports players. When they sold faster than anyone could have predicted, they stumbled upon their meth fueled gold mine they made and were extremely pleased, they thought everyone loved what they made, except one point. People expected the toddler rattles they made to work like a mix between the gun from Duck Hunt and a laser pointer at a powerpoint presentation and, I'm convinced this is true, that was never what it was designed to do. So it took a ridiculous amount of time to develop a device that would add improved/altered capabilities and still fit with the flinging style of gameplay(no easy task). And when they finished it? No 3rd party developer would touch it because they didn't want their games to require the customer pay an extra $20, they couldn't take the risk even after Nintendo bundled it with Wii Sports Resort. By the time it was standard, no one cared anymore. Considering all the work it must have taken to develop the hardware addon, Nintendo must have been more than a little frustrated.

Their confidence in its' original pointing ability is best shown when looking at the WiiSports selection Menu, the sheer size the buttons had to be on screen to make it easy enough for anyone to select anything, the rest of the time is just remote flinging exercises because that's all it could do.

That... was a lot more than I was planning to say...

I don't think Nintendo went cheap, everyone just saw something that was way more than even Nintendo thought it was.

Anyway, hopefully they'll see the requirements/demands of the market this time around and plan accordingly.

Well, what I meant was that they could have gone 1:1 with the Wii in the first place but chose the cheap route.

With the Wii-U in multiplayer games only the first player will get the Wii-U remote (which is the only thing interesting about the Wii-U thus far). This will mean that the Wii-U remote will just become a Wiimote to make things fair. This is already looking like another fatal design decision.

 

[weirdee]

Yeah, the main problem I see right now is that a lot of publishers might pull out in the middle of things like they did with the 3DS. Overall, people may slam them for not having any good games, but you have to keep in mind that the publishers of the games we wanted abandoned ship for some reason or other, so we're probably not getting the whole story here.

While they may have their reasons, I'm still kind of irritated that they didn't follow through on things that they've said...